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Permethrin Kit

Here's a kit I put together for diluting 40% permethrin to treat clothing and gear.

In the past I've used Sawyers and Repel Permanone products. The Repel product just didn't last very long. Last year I treated my gear with 10% permethrin purchased at Tractor Supply. It worked but the scent of the petroleum distillates was pretty strong (at first).

This year I saw 40% permethrin at Tractor Supply. My thinking was that by using a more concentrated permethrin, there would be less distillates in each batch, so less smell.

Since 40% is 80 times more than the 0.5% used for treating clothing the product needed to be diluted at an 80:1 ratio. The Sawyer dunk product comes in 6oz bottles. Converting to metric, that's 180mL per bottle. 180mL/80=2.25mL, which is the amount of permethrin in the Sawyer bottle. But for dunking Sawyer has you dump the contents into a bag and the fill the bottle with water twice more, dumping that into the bag as well. 3x6oz=18oz of total liquid to treat one set of clothes.

I found a syringe from an old inkjet printer refill kit and used it to pull 2.5mL out of the 40% permethrin bottle. Rather than add that to a 6oz bottle and then need to dump two more 6 oz bottle of water in, I simply shot the permethrin into a 20oz Coke bottle filled with water.

To have some 0.5% around for spraying, I added 10mL of permethrin to a 24oz spray bottle and labeled it accordingly. EDIT: Per Oh-No, Permethrin has very limited shelf life once mixed with water, so only mix when needed.

Just treated three sets of clothing and a couple of hammocks. There is definitely much less smell in the fabric using this method.

Just curious if treated clothing helps eliminate the bites to exposed skin; in other words, reduce the amount of deet, etc on your skin?

Additionally, I too am curious of where to get this, and also if this particular brand label allows for use on clothing. I recall another thread where someone called the manufacture, and they said it was against the law to use the chemical other than what was directed. Not trying to open a can of worms here, just very interested in this as my kids always have mosquito bites that swell up.

Once the permethrin (actually permethrin, petroleum solvents, and emulsifiers)
is mixed with water, the emulsion has a limited life. That is after some time
(days-weeks? depends on the emulsifiers, temp etc.) the permethrin will settle
out and even shaking will not make for an even dispersal of the active ingredient.

That's a nice article Knotty. I know you folks have a tougher bug problem than we do out here, but it looks like you have the right stuff to combat them. Being that I am ignorant about the stuff, my first thought was "What happens when someone washes their clothes in a lake or stream? Will wildlife suffer as a result? If there is any harm, is it less or more than other products?" This isn't criticism, just my curiosity from a perspective of zero knowledge about the product.

Just curious if treated clothing helps eliminate the bites to exposed skin; in other words, reduce the amount of deet, etc on your skin?

..................

In my experience so far, YES! I don't think I would trust bare skin with NO bug spray on it, even when some/most of my clothing is treated with Permethrin. But so far, when I have gone out either not bothering to put bug dope on my skin but just taking some with me in case- or when I have simply forgotten the stuff for my skin- I have gotten away with it. Really, I mostly never even see or hear a bug/whining mossy. Conversely, working in the yard the other day with no treated clothes and only bug spray, I still got a bite or two on my left little finger, where I apparently failed to cover with bug spray. I don't think I have ever had a bite when using treated clothing. Still, generally I think it is safer to spray DEET or preferably for me 15-20% Picaridin ( NOT PERMETHRIN!) on exposed skin, and mostly I do that.

Originally Posted by mountain_man_mike

That's a nice article Knotty. I know you folks have a tougher bug problem than we do out here, but it looks like you have the right stuff to combat them. Being that I am ignorant about the stuff, my first thought was "What happens when someone washes their clothes in a lake or stream? Will wildlife suffer as a result? If there is any harm, is it less or more than other products?" This isn't criticism, just my curiosity from a perspective of zero knowledge about the product.

It is supposed to bind pretty well to the clothing. It is supposed to take about 6 machine washings to get it out of your clothing. If you did manage to get some in a stream/lake, I THINK the results would be miniscule. Consider the amount of .5% sprayed on a pair of pants. Then think about managing to get SOME of that to come off in a stream crossing, thus diluting it down hundreds/thousands or millions more times. It SEEMS any efect would be miniscule. But who knows for sure?

Last edited by BillyBob58; 05-19-2011 at 17:45.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us....that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.
Romans 8:18,21-22

Once the permethrin (actually permethrin, petroleum solvents, and emulsifiers)
is mixed with water, the emulsion has a limited life. That is after some time
(days-weeks? depends on the emulsifiers, temp etc.) the permethrin will settle
out and even shaking will not make for an even dispersal of the active ingredient.